


Death of the Endless- Everlasting Love to Die For

by FSAppaneestyUOZC99999999Supremum



Series: Death IC and Appanesty Infinity Series [1]
Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), The Sandman (Comics)
Genre: Eternal Bonds, F/F, F/M, Multi, Omnipotence, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:55:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23225158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FSAppaneestyUOZC99999999Supremum/pseuds/FSAppaneestyUOZC99999999Supremum
Summary: It's the end of the universe and Death's tenure as the Multiversal Entity of soul-reapers, and the end of her family as she knows it. The abstract forces of the Universe that the Endless embody are gone with the universe, and only she remains beyond the collapse of reality itself. But is this really the end, or the start of something new altogether? When one of the Almightiest Beings in all the Omega Omnispheres finds a kindred spirit in Death of the Endless; things are bound to get crazy on a more extravagant scale than even she could have imagined.
Relationships: Death of the Endless/Original Male Character, Delirium of the Endless/Original Male Character
Series: Death IC and Appanesty Infinity Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1669918
Comments: 2





	Death of the Endless- Everlasting Love to Die For

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything; all content is the property of their respective owners. I don't make any profit from this whatsoever and am dirt poor; so, don't sue me guys seriously, I ain't getting nothing out of writing this and neither will anyone who tries to sue me. Not that I expect anyone to really, this is just so the admins of this site don't tear me a new asshole for not respecting their rules._

_Not recommended to immature audiences; and by immature, I mean anyone under the age of 18. You have been warned people. Reader discretion is as usual strongly advised._

_Description: It's the end of the universe and Death's tenure as the Multiversal Entity of soul-reapers, and the end of her family as she knows it. The abstract forces of the Universe that the Endless embody are gone with the universe, and only she remains beyond the collapse of reality itself. But is this really the end, or the start of something new altogether? When one of the Almightiest Beings in all the Omega Omnispheres finds a kindred spirit in Death of the Endless; things are bound to get crazy on a more extravagant scale than even she could have imagined._

Chapter One: New Beginnings

Putting the entire universe to rest was equal parts beautiful and saddening. There were stars blinking out of existence as readily as though one had snuffed out the cosmos's biggest candle; and planets, nebulae, and galaxies turned to dust, and the dust became atoms, and the atoms broke even further down still. With the final vestiges of the universe itself falling into the nothingness of the void and the dark matter of ever-expanding ultra-massive black holes; even the Endless themselves eventually ceased to be. It was foretold that upon the death of the universe, even the personifications of its various aspects and fundamental forces would fade as well; yet one lone survivor looked on with a mixture of sadness, pity, and above all, satisfaction.

She had always known she would be the sole survivor out of all her family, prophecies foretold by Destiny himself had forewarned and prepared her for this eventuality billions of years in advance. And yet, while she knew her role as the aspect of Death was now officially over for the time being and she could finally see what came next; she felt a true sense of loss for the first time in living memory. Her job had been her sole identity for countless billions of millennia; all she had ever known, it was what she lived for, as ironic as it sounded. She should have been relieved, and while she was she also knew she would have a very difficult time adjusting herself to whatever came next. Even more ironic still was that she hated this job and what it entailed when she first started out; she even quit as an Endless once upon a time and only came back because her brothers and sisters begged her to.

The lack of Death in the universe had unleashed complete chaos, and she had been bitter, cold, and arrogant for a very long time afterward. She had hated returning to what she called her necessary service at the time; but then she took one mortal's suggestion to try out life as a mortal just once, and when she lived and died as one she had been given a huge epiphany. She learned that lifetime that people could use a friend when trying to come to terms with their death; and so, she had quickly and completely overturned her previous attitude, becoming the Death so many people now adored. It was amazing how helpful friendliness and a warm, welcoming personality could be for some people; especially since her current form even managed to get some of the male mortals all flustered in her presence. She knew the form she took was cute, and had stuck with it for so long she couldn't imagine appearing as anyone else. It was amazing how many people immediately let their guard down when they saw how friendly and outgoing she truly was, and appearing as a gorgeous young woman never hurt either she supposed.

Death knew that when the universe died it could take several of its life ages for the next Big Bang to occur; so, what would she do in the meantime? She understood it wasn't goodbye to her family forever, except the version of the Endless she grew up with would be reborn as completely new counterparts of themselves. While she would remember the bonds they all shared and would eventually take on her ever-important role once again when the universe was reborn; they would look at her as though she were a stranger and it would take eons for her to reforge a semblance of the connection they once knew.

All and all, this was meant to serve as her extended paid vacation before her next work shift; (She managed to grin to herself at the thought that her bar analogy of the universe still stuck with her even after all this time) but none of her siblings would be the version of them she remembered when she returned for business. Was being the most powerful of her brethren the cause of this misfortune; was being the aspect of Death and one of the most powerful Multiversal Entities both a boon and a curse? She supposed she could reconnect with all of them, and maybe some part of her new family would retain traces of their previous lives just as she did… but she felt as though that hope was slowly ebbing away.

Still, she was Death, she was eternal on a scale her fellow Endless would never know; and she accepted and embraced that. She would find a way to cope; with her job, the rebirth of her siblings, and the proper vacation time she had finally earned herself. She did her job and liked to think she did it well towards the end; and now she was free to explore and travel the Omniverse as she pleased. She could see new worlds and places, and while she would still retain all her nigh-omnipotent powers as Death she knew she needn't interfere in other universes or try and step on the toes of other aspects of death.

She reckoned her job would be taken over in one way or another; and her role in her universe died when that universe did. She never really had much opportunity to see other worlds or dimensions and whenever she did it was always while she was on the job. How much time had been her own personal me time really; she had desires, wants, and needs beyond the mere essence of her existence just as everyone else did. She had hobbies, strange trinkets, and even stranger quirks that she had picked up in her countless years. She could go see concert bands in other worlds, watch a ball game, play video games like Pokemon, and even visit real-life versions of such video game based worlds if she wanted to.

As Death, there was absolutely no limits to where she could go; wherever there was life in the Omega Omnisphere itself, there was also death… one simply could not exist without the other. By that reckoning, she could travel anywhere or any place she pleased, within reason of course. She had been the one bound by the fewest rules out of all her brethren; and now it seemed that infinite possibilities had been opened up to her. She was free, now if only she could figure out where in the hell to start. With so many options available she felt stuck on what to do first; some of her options even scared her a little in all truthfulness. She was standing on the edge of everything and anything, now she just had to work up the courage to take that steep dive.

She found herself idly wondering if she could find herself a boyfriend now that the rules of the Endless no longer applied; did she even have to worry about mortals being assured to die on her now should she choose to court them? He didn't have to be mortal however, and frankly a lot of mortals were naturally inclined to give her a wide berth. A girl needed to keep all of her options open after all; and at least gods were able to give her longevity a run for its money. She had learned not to let the mortals' perception of her bother her and she even found amusement in it. Death had mellowed out a lot in her later years; that first lifetime as a mortal had changed absolutely everything for her. Now, she learned to see the good in what she did and learned to enjoy it; when at first it had been a necessary service she hated, she now depended on it. She had always been a looker by human standards, and while a lot of beings saw her differently and her appearance was subjective; she was first and foremost a young woman.

Not exactly what one thought when thinking of death as something tangible; they usually thought of those gruesome images of the Grim Reaper and frankly the stereotypes mortals came up with caught her between amusement and slight offense. She understood the necessity of people fearing her and her line of work to some degree, but some people took their fear of death way too far and sought ways to cheat her in every way they could. She had to give some of these people props, a lot of the ways they achieved immortality were tremendously creative; albeit completely sick in some cases, not that she judged them of course. She wasn't supposed to play the moral judge of peoples' innate characters and she had gained impartialness and sympathy for all forms of life no matter how depraved. There were times of course where even she was disgusted by what some people did, and she wanted to punish them; but that wasn't her job or her right. She could leave that to whatever punisher lay in store for such people in their respective afterlives.

Still, Death got them all in the end; she always did with very, very few exceptions… one of them being Lucifer Morningstar and his counterpart Michael. There was also the Elaine Belloc of course; since she had taken over her grandfather's role as omnipotent creator and ruler of the entire Multiverse. Seriously, Death knew better then to even think she could reap such beings; but still, that meant that barring omnipotent beings she could take anything and anyone else on a lesser scale of power, even other beings of transfinite power like herself.

She wondered if the Elaine would object to a visit from her at some point; even almighty Gods had to get bored sometimes right, that much power could drive the most mentally stable person insane with boredom she reckoned… given enough time. It would be difficult to pin her down when she was omnipresent and one with everything; but Death found herself willing to try at some point. Still, trying to understand the complexities that made up the nature of such beings was not part of her job description; except now she was officially off duty for who knows how many countless eons.

Death contemplated her choices once again while floating in the welcoming silence of the Void, things were peaceful and quiet out here. She took the form of an attractive young goth woman around 20 or so years of age; with wild yet silky-looking black hair and midnight colored eyes as warm and welcoming as chocolate and as dark and glossy as polished obsidian. Her skin was pale white yet also flawless, as well as a stark contrast to her casual choice of attire; which consisted of a black tank top and jeans. She carried her favorite black umbrella and slung it over her shoulder casually, and she wore her signature silver ankh in a chain necklace around her neck. To complete the ensemble, she had a tattoo of the eye of Horus over her right eye. She also had the body of a supermodel, and wouldn't have herself or her form any other way at this point.

"Everything ends I suppose," she mused aloud in the vacuum of space, her voice projecting itself aloud via telepathy since sounds didn't travel in such environments. Death was nigh-omniscient and very rarely surprised by much of anything, but when the voice of a man she never heard before replied to her thinking out loud; she was taken off guard. Not many beings could have escaped her notice like this, and just as few could survive out here in the Howling with her; yet someone was undeniably there with her.

"True, but just as everything ends… despite the apparent finality of it all; so too must there be new beginnings. It's an interesting paradox really, how beginnings are never truly beginnings as mortals tend to perceive them and how endings merely proceed new beginnings. It's the inevitable cycle of existence, the wheel just keeps on turning and a circle has no beginning and no end… not truly. By that reckoning, I'd imagine one's conceptualizations of endings are a tad self-contradictory. Nothing ever truly ends Death, not really; there is no final collapse of Reality, there is just the endless rebirth of the Omniverse. Such as it has always been and always will be," the man or whatever he was spoke in an almost bored sounding tone; though there was sincerity behind his words as he spoke to her.

Death found herself frowning in something foreign to her until this very moment… confusion, as a man she had never seen before in all her countless years was standing in the blackness when nobody had been there a split-second before. She honestly didn't know how that was possible, she knew everyone in the Omniverse; even the ones she had no jurisdiction over and every member of the Omnipotence Nexus, if not directly than indirectly through the Omni-dimensional equivalent of the grapevine. Whatever this man was, he was foreign; on a scale beyond anything even she could have imagined. Still, while she was caught off guard; Death wasn't easily intimidated, and knew her necessary service to the Omniverse gave her some leeway with higher beings such as the one before her. Normally, one couldn't see in the darkness of the Void; but Death could make this man's features out perfectly.

The first thing she noticed was the pure white Japanese Kimono of sorts he wore and which hugged his body in all the right places; with an ankh, not dissimilar to her own around his neck… although his was crafted in some Celtic sign for Eternal Love, a rainbow-colored heart merged with a grey-colored infinity symbol. His face was perfectly sculpted and symmetrical, all his exposed skin tanned a tawny gold that would have many females gushing at the sight of him right then and there. His musculature and everything else about him screamed total physical perfection, and his left eye was a deep, vibrant purple while the other was florescent pink with tiny specks of violet. His hair was as black as hers, and there was a faint glow about him that accentuated all his features with supremely irresistible and ungodly appeal.

Death was certain of precisely two things at the very moment their eyes locked; one, she had never met a more beautiful man or god in all her countless years, and two, this man was quite literally out of this Omega Omnisphere. His very presence felt completely _wrong_ to her, an intrinsic impossibility, like his very being coursed with an Unfathomable Power that put the fear of God in… God. His type of Entity was never meant to happen, and she could immediately sense he was the most unique being in all of Totality. She should have felt unnerved by him beyond reason, he broke all the fundamental laws of the Omega Omnisphere itself by his very nature… with just his mere presence. Yet something about his wrongness screamed at her in all of those wickedly right ways, the ways that made her want to find out what made him tick. Every particle of her being was uncertain whether to scream at her to run or invite him over to her place for tea. She decided a compromise was best suited for now, and she responded to his previous statement right where they stood.

"I'm glad you're so optimistic about the cycles of life; I wish more people would see it that way instead of just assuming the end is truly the end. Here's to a new beginning I suppose um… you appear to have me at quite a disadvantage. You already know who and what I am, care to tell me your name," she perkily asked him, wondering to herself why he had come all the way out here and more specifically… why he had sought her out. There was nothing and nobody else out here so she had to assume he was here for her; or maybe watching universes flicker out of existence was a guilty pleasure of his.

He smirked mischievously at her, his expression not of malice but of friendly teasing; and she was quite certain if she were any less of a girl than Death herself that smile would have had her weak in the knees. "Not a question you're used to asking very often… I'd imagine," he stated simply, not really answering her just yet as Death gave him a grin of her own. She was almost infinitely patient, her job required her to be, and she could wait for him to elaborate further; but he had just given her the first legitimate riddle she had in eons. "No… this is the first time actually," she admitted, pouting playfully at him while waiting for the inevitable introductions to take place. She already liked this guy quite a bit, he was friendly to a fault much like her; nothing about him seemed outwardly hostile towards her and while she should have felt afraid of an alien of his caliber she couldn't help but settle into some sort of conversation with him. For all her powers, she had no doubt he could have done anything he wanted to her and there was nothing she could do about it; but she also knew if he had wanted to do anything to her he wouldn't be bothering to have this chat with her first.

Finally, he laughed, and she couldn't help joining him a little; even if she only snickered somewhat. "You'd be surprised how often that happens to beings who are functionally nigh-omniscient; there's a reason the word nigh is in there you know. And as crazy as it sounds, there are some questions out there that are meant to remain unanswerable; and no amount of knowledge can ever change that. Anyways, it's nice to meet you Death; do you mind if I call you Di-di? Death is too much of a title and not enough of a personalized name if you ask me; though it worked for the Doctor and the other Time Lords well enough I suppose. Anyways, call my Appaneesty; or just AI if you'd rather. The AI stands for Appaneesty Infinity, the meaning of which is difficult for me to put into terms even the nigh omniscient can understand," he said, finally introducing himself as Death smiled gleefully. She was liking this man more and more as time went on; if he was looking to charm and woe her, he was off to a fantastic start, even if he was a tad eccentric. She had dealt with her sister Delirium though and they had a strong bond; and frankly, Delirium was about as maddeningly strange as one could get.

"Nice to meet you as well Appaneesty, or AI I suppose; and yes, I'd love if you called me Di-Di. I've always enjoyed it when mortals give me their own personalized nicknames; it gave me a sense of identity beyond the sickle and the reaper I guess. You wouldn't be the first person to call me Di-Di either actually," she conversationally stated, before plunging on to the question at hand now that they had some well-established small talk taken care of. "You wouldn't happen to be here to watch the death of the universe with me would ya? It's still going on and if you squint you can still see the last of the stars going out; but I can't help but wonder, why are you here? Your logically impossible existence is practically bleeding out for all to see; there are many within the Omniverse who would find your presence either awe-inspiring, intimidating, or perhaps even a little of both," Death plainly pointed out.

He turned back to the darkening universe in front of them as though just remembering it was there; and as Death, or Di-di as she was now dubbed… walked up to stand beside him in the ether he answered her reasonable query while observing and didn't look back at her while doing so. "I've been watching you, just observing from a distance really; there are many in this Multiverse who are eye-catching and all that but I felt a kindred spirit inside of you. For a long time now I've been trying to get up the courage to approach you; but no time-period felt like the right one if you know what I mean. Finally, I decided to stop waiting for the right time per say and simply pick my moment, and well… here I am," he said as though that last part explained everything. Di-di wasn't about to let him off the hook that easily though, not for such a vague response.

"Oh… well that answers everything; and to be honest, I've always kind of wanted my own personal stalker," she drawled sarcastically and with thinly veiled amusement as he drew back with a mock gasp. "What I mean is, I keep watch over all the Omniverses and stuff; and I've even served as the Omniarch of Totality once upon a time… kept vigil over my entire Omnipotence Nexus and stuff like that. I guess I just saw a bit of myself in you, you know. I mean, you get various depictions of both Death and the Omniversal Creator throughout the cosmos; in the myths and legends of a trillion worlds. Rather like how you refused to cater to some of the more offensive stereotypes people have of your pantheon; I was rather adamant about my choice to remain untied to any pre-existing religious conceptualization of the Alpha and Omega. I suppose that's why I took a shine to you, I saw a bit of my younger self in you Di-di. That's all there really is to it," he admitted somewhat sheepishly, almost looking as though he were embarrassed to have admitted that much. Di-di would have laughed at his expression if she wasn't so stunned by the implications of what he told her.

"Wait a minute; are you… seriously telling me that you're some extra-omniversal counterpart to Zeneptron or something? I didn't believe the ON even _had_ an Omniarch, I thought it was all just talk and rumors and stuff; I mean, how can one even gauge that sort of thing. Infinite power is invariant right; so how is you guys' hierarchy or food chain or whatever even established? What would such an establishment be based on? I always just thought the Omega Omnisphere's creation was a joint effort or something by the ON as a whole; I never actually believed that it all could have sprung from a singular source," Death whispered in astonishment. There were too few things left out there that truly surprised her anymore, but this qualified as part of that short list.

Her new acquaintance laughed, a merry laughter that rang like bells on a clear day and conveyed a hymn of the most sacrosanct sort. "You seem to know quite a lot about the rumor mills and the stories though; but yes Di-di, everything in Totality… omnipotent or otherwise, was born from the same source. And despite the intrinsic impossibility of it all; there has been a concept of multiple Omega Omnispheres since the concept of the first Double-O itself was born," he explained to her as she shook her head in mixed amusement and exasperation. This was a lot to take in, even for one as great as her; and frankly, she was a little out of her depth with the level of madness this guy gave off. "Delirium would have loved you to absolute pieces, maybe even fallen in love with you altogether; you're a very special kind of crazy Appaneesty… I hope you realize that," she told him unabashedly.

"And yet, you believe me somehow; not many cosmic entities have that open a mind. Hell, most members of the ON in most Omniverses refuse to accept the idea that my kind exists. We're called Zenith Omnidonae in case you were wondering Di-Di; we're the beings that make one wonder if ON members were truly all-powerful in the first place," he responded flippantly, as though he had given this sort of introduction countless times before. Knowing him based on what she had gleaned so far; he probably had given that introduction before. "Well, I've seen a lot of crazy things in my time as the Multiversal aspect of Death; and with Delirium as my sister, I never had a prayer.

I still can't believe they're gone, even if their essence is a fixed point in the universe and they'll always be reborn; I feel like I've been robbed of the opportunity to join them in oblivion, however fleeting it may be. Do you think their newer selves will remember me?" she asked, for the first time sounding unsure of herself and a little shy even. A part of her questioned the wisdom of bringing up such a personal topic with a near stranger; and another part wondered why Death herself made incarnate would have such problems? The answer to the second question was simple; she had desires, hopes, dreams, and hobbies beyond the barest essence of her existence. There was more to Death than just being Death; if that made any sense, frankly, she couldn't think of a better way to put it. She couldn't believe how in depth their conversation was already becoming, yet she could tell this was a man of unmatched wisdom and more experience than even she could hope to match. Something about him made her want to confide in him.

To her surprise and delight, he smiled before replying. "Di-di, I've seen familial bonds transcend every boundary you can think of as assuredly as I have seen it from romantic power couples. I've seen it connect mother and daughter across infinite distances in both space and time, allowed fathers to go beyond their limits to protect their sons, and seen the bond between brothers and sisters survive every test of time the Omniverse can throw at them. Some friendships and some familial bonds transcend lifetimes of both the people involved, and even beyond the collapse of Totality itself.

Nothing so tangible as the Emotional Spectrum of Infinite Totalities is ever lost to anyone; it can connect you to your fellow Endless through, above, and beyond anything and everything. I have absolutely no doubt that not only will your family retain their memories of you and the ties that bind you all; but that you will be able to experience them with a sort of newness as well that's like you're feeling everything for the first time. You'll all have a clean slate to start over with, and you can make all the same choices as before; or you can make new and better ones, it's entirely up to you," Appaneesty reassured her sagely, his tone so certain in its conviction of his statement and its delivery that she found it hard to refute or doubt him.

"Thank you," she finally said; a warm, perky, bubbly smile on her face as she absentmindedly rotated her umbrella in a circle beside her somewhat petite frame. She wasn't a tiny girl per say, but next to the man beside her and the form her chose; she realized she had chosen a small human form for herself in comparison. She didn't fool herself into believing he couldn't change his attire or his appearance at will as easily as she could, if not easier; yet it mattered not what either of them looked like in the end. All that mattered was that they were true to their essential selves and every aspect of their existence beyond their respective roles in the Omniverse.

"No problem, advice is always free in my books; especially when given to a pretty lady in need of said advice," he warmly replied, his tone neither condescending nor flirtatious when he called her pretty lady. It seemed to him a simple statement of fact, and Di-di couldn't quite remember being happier to have chosen this form before. She would have blushed at this point where she just a regular mortal girl; but she was Death, and it would take a lot more than pretty words on his end to get her all hot and bothered. Still, this was the first time an apparent Omniarch of Totality sought her out on a whim; and some small part of her wanted to milk this opportunity till it was dry as a bone.

"Well, the universe is almost gone; but like I said before, endings are just the precursor of new beginnings. Nothing more, nothing less; it's sad yes to watch things die, but it's also beautiful because death is just a part of life. I reckon that's something you know better than most, isn't that right Di-di," he grinned at her, and she couldn't help but smirk. This was the most fun she had since closing the universe down for the proverbial night; and she could see this person becoming a very real friend to her in the future. She may have been forbidden from falling in love with mortals, lest she entice them to a very tragic demise; (and she didn't even know if that law applied to her anymore) but this man was about as far from a mortal as one could get. She could almost immediately tell he was not of her Omniverse; and she had learned some very interesting things from him while they had been talking. A lot of inconsequential things really, since she didn't care where this man came from; all that mattered was that he was here, and for that she was secretly thankful.

"A thing isn't beautiful because it lasts I suppose," Death chimed in agreement. "There are exceptions to that statement I'm sure though Di-di, I mean look at you. Your existence is pretty well perpetual and you're the most hauntingly beautiful girl I've ever seen," he replied with such naked honesty she found herself blushing for the first time. It was such a mortal thing for her to be doing, and against skin as pale as hers a full-body blush was going to stand out like a sore thumb. "Don't say that, I'm sure you've met plenty of lookers out there; I'm a far cry from being that beautiful in anyone's books," she insisted, completely flustered despite herself.

To her utter bewilderment, she saw him shaking his head out of the corner of her eye; her attention was more focused on him than on the sight of the universe dying now. "Beauty comes in many forms Di-di, but the form you've chosen has proven especially exquisite. And besides, it's not even really about your physical appearance; it's your warmth, your heart, and your utter humanity as compared to other Death entities that really caught my eye. You're regarded by many as not only the most innately human of the seven Endless, but also the most unique aspect of Death ever seen or imagined by any mind; and you've proven to be more effective at your job than most of them to.

A lot of people are beyond scared of this Grim Reaper concept they've got going, but you've shown them that Death can be heart wrenchingly beautiful, sweet, kind, nurturing and caring. These are some seriously strong adjectives Di-di, and not one many would associate with an abstract entity of Life and Death. I guess that's why I was so drawn to you; your legacy as Death reminds me of my own legacy as an Omniarch of Totality. And I've seen a lot of the Omniverses in my time; and each one has its own unique flavors and blends, but you can officially consider yourself Omni-Omniversally unique. I don't think you appreciate just how rare your sort truly is; and I'm here to make sure nothing and nobody takes away what makes you so special. I also wanted to be here to see you off on your first official paid vacation; and some naïve part of me was hoping we could be friends one day.

I guess when you are the most powerful being in all the Omega Omnispheres, your needs are few. All I've ever truly wanted was to help make the Omni-Omniverse a better and happier place. And frankly, people in your world were at least 200 percent happier that you had taken the job as compared to an actual grim reaper." His speech had positively floored her by this point; the fact that someone could hold such reverent passion for the way she did her job was simply beyond her. This was far beyond the grudging respect and the acceptance she was often accustomed to; this was admiration and even adoration towards her that she had never known. Not even her own fellow Endless had appreciated her in the unconditional, almost loving way this man did; they realized they needed her there and that her services were necessary… but no one ever appreciated what she did as being something more than important to the Omniverse. This was the first time someone genuinely admired her and the way she did her job, and she honestly didn't know what to say to that.

He chuckled, "well, would you look at that? I've rendered Death herself speechless; this should go down in the history books ladies and jets," he jokingly stated as she recovered just enough to stick her tongue out at him like a giant four-year-old; though she did it teasingly and maybe a little more flirtatiously than she initially intended. How could she not flirt with him at this point; the way he was going on about how wonderful he thought she was, she'd never had anyone ever actually speak to her like that before. Oh sure, there was the odd male soul she entertained as a guest in her house that was accepting enough of their imminent demise to try and flirt with her a little; but it had been mostly because she had chosen such an attractive form and not because they actually admired her as a person.

Hearing this man speak to her with such reverence and admiration was making her wonder if he came here specifically to court her. She was surprised to find she didn't mind the teasing and the flirting all that much; she wouldn't have minded it going further than that even, but that didn't mean she would make it easy for him. Sure, he was skilled in the art of flattery but talk was cheap; he had to be willing to _show_ in his actions that she was worth all this lavished attention he was showering her with. If he wanted to play this game with her, he would have to play it right; and he would have to put the time and effort into playing said game correctly. She wasn't going to make it easy, but if she was truly worth everything he claimed she was; then he would need to show her that he properly felt that way. Pretty words and flattery lost their charm when the man behind them did very little in the way of action to back them up. She found herself looking forward to something for the first time since she closed up shop; and now knew what she wanted to do first and foremost as part of her extended paid leave.

"You know, I've got this really nice place back in a pocket dimension over there some ways; beats standing out here doing the ethereal backstroke I reckon. Why don't you join me there and we can have ourselves a cup of tea or coffee or whatever meets your fantasy. It would also give us the opportunity to learn more about each other on a more… _personal_ level," she purred in a seductive undertone; knowing she was laying it on thick at the last part of her sentence and wanting to see what he would do. She hoped she was doing a good job at all this enticing, flirting, and what not; truth be told, she had never really gone this far with anyone before. She had always been the busiest of her siblings, and never had time to properly indulge in romantic pursuits the same way her fellow Endless did; but even still, she'd seen enough chick flicks and romantic comedies to have a good idea on what not to do at least. She only hoped her flirtation was well received.

"I'd like that very much Di-di, lead the way," he accepted her offer and her flirtations kindly; offering a dazzling smile of his own as Death took his hand and guided him away from the ruins of what was once a great and powerful universe. She knew this was one person she wouldn't have to worry about reaping, not now and not ever; and is amazing as it was she was glad about that. Now it seemed she had found the one person who she could truly consider an eternal companion; one beyond Death's stroke though nothing like Slade Wilson in her opinion. She didn't notice until he mentioned it, but she could see their spirits were kind; he was just as unexpected and apart from the norm of Omniarchs as she was by the standards of Death entities. She may not have known him very well, not yet, but she planned to change that. "You know something, I'm glad you showed up. I honestly wasn't sure what I planned to do now that I had earned my first true break from my job in countless eons; I was stuck with so many options and couldn't settle on anything. Now though, I have found myself something to do and I'm not planning on letting you go without experiencing some of my home cooking and generous hospitality," she added listlessly, babbling on in that bubbly tone of hers as her hand tightened around his even more and the pair of them vanished in two simultaneous pops; melding into the very darkness itself.

XXXXX

Death honestly couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so much or felt so Goddamn relaxed; and as she suspected, her new guest had many wonderful tales of his own to tell. "It's funny how people are so determined to see us only the way they do and won't accept anything that challenges their conceptualizations of God or Death. I remember this one time during my tenure as Omniarch of Totality; I was filling in for the Blessed Trinity while they tended to matters outside of their Multiversal sphere of control… and since that multiverse had no official aspect of death to reap souls, I was required to either send the Trinity's Angel of Death to do the job or just handle the situation myself.

I always preferred handling my own tasks and no job was too big or small for me in those days; and I always felt like if I ever let anything get beneath me I'd become some arrogant swine. So anyways, that's all fine and good; I go around and I play the role of both the Reaper and Bruce Almighty… and of course I wind up with these guys who are full on Hindu God worshippers right? And of course, I appear to them as how you see right now; so, they pitch an absolute fit saying they were in the wrong afterlife and shit. And when I try to calm them down and explain the situation, they have the gall to tell me off and demand to speak with the official representative of Brahman or even the Trimurti themselves. It wasn't the best situation, and I admit I laughed when I probably shouldn't; but basically, I managed to tell them the Trimurti were too busy for this sort of thing right now and I was filling in temporarily," Appaneesty pauses as Death continues giggling behind her hand, silently urging him to continue and reassuring him she was keeping up so far.

"Well, they don't like that… not one bit, saying they refuse to wind up with any Entity other than their own and refuse to accept the idea that any God other than Brahman is the true Trimurti. So, finally… I got frustrated and I said this to them. 'Well, sorry to burst your bubble guys but the universe you're inhabiting is not even under the jurisdiction of said Trimurti and it was the Blessed Trinity of Christianity who holds all the power here. Now, given the nature of the Omniverse as a collective whole, there is a whole Nexus of omnipotent beings and you're not wrong to believe in what you believe in.

But the universe you're all in and the afterlife system tied to it is run by a different aspect of the Omnipotence Nexus than you were expecting and that's not a slight against your religion people; that's just the way things are and the cards your universe was dealt. However, if you prefer; I'm sure I can arrange something with the nearest Trimurti controlled realities for all of you… though I doubt they'd take anyone from outside their sphere of control. Bear in mind, the Omniverse is a big place and the Omnipotent Creator tends to um… split and diversify his personality and what not to suit an individual universes traits and characteristics. This in turn guarantees the sacrosanct unity of absolute power while still allowing various aspects of the ON to retain a sense of self from one another to some degree. So, suck it up buttercups, I may not fit your religious notions; but I am every bit as real and as much a part of the almighty pantheon as the Deity you people focus upon. If you want to take this to a higher authority, there isn't one… it stops with me,' that shut them up right fast," Appaneesty finished as Death burst out laughing. It wasn't that the tale was strictly meant to be seen as funny, but people were funny and stubborn about the weirdest things.

"I've been in similar situations, I mean… some of those really religious types have actually demanded to speak with the official representative when I show up. I mean, come on people… wake up and realize your conceptualizations of us are not always going to be the Gospel truth," she admitted between sips of her hot cocoa with mini marshmallows. She was typically a tea person over a coffee person because she preferred sweet over bittersweet; but Appaneesty had recommended something even sweeter still and frankly she loved the suggestion. He was smiling at her now, his own cup of hot cocoa well forgotten.

"Humans are strange, set in their ways, stubborn, and above all… stupid and brilliant at varying degrees; but while their lives are fleeting they do matter. These brilliant… _stupid_ people; they are the epitomic examples of living short and sweet, and despite their faults, I love them," Appaneesty admitted with fondness as seemingly limitless as his power. "Me too," Death agreed, sighing contentedly and blissfully. That was one thing they both seemed to feel as strongly about; in fact, Death was astounded by how much they had in common.

"Man, I still can't fully believe you're real; I mean, I've met fully functioning omnipotent beings before… but never with the supposed ruler of the ON. I knew of Zeneptron of course and I know all your names, but I never would have imagined I could have my mind opened to whole new realities this late in the game. I never really set much store by the Omniversal creation myths; and now that you're here in front of me…" Death paused, trying to put what she was feeling into concrete terms but unable to even form coherent speech for it while she looked across her at the living legend sitting facing her.

"There's a man behind every myth Di-di. Every story ever told really happened, and stories are what memories become when all have forgotten them. I will admit the ZOF likes to do things on a… extravagant scale, but aside from that how different are we really? Many would argue that your actual existence as something more than an unconscious force of the universe is impossible too; always remember, there is nothing out there in the Omega Omnispheres that aren't real. The line between what's real and nonexistent does not exist in itself; and frankly, it never truly did," he explained to her. She nodded in understanding, an extremely perky smile lighting up her features. "Your hot cocoa is going to get cold don't you know," she teasingly reminded him, causing him to grin at her in turn. "No, it isn't actually, I arranged for our cups to endlessly replenish themselves until we both feel properly satiated. I also arranged for a permanent heat residence to feed into our hot drinks and created a perpetual microscopic sun of infinite power and light to sustain said heat," he explained to her as she quirked an eyebrow at him in thinly veiled amusement.

"Show-off," she remarked, before going back to drinking her everlasting and perpetually hot drink. He shrugged nonchalantly, as though it were no big deal; but something told Death he got off on the thought of being able to surprise her with that little bit of reality-warping. She knew he could achieve things far more grandiose than that, and was glad he wasn't going to such absurd lengths to try and impress her. He also didn't even boast about it until she brought up that his drink was going to get cold; and it seemed as much reassurance to her as it was him showing off for her a bit. Either way, she was strangely flattered he was going to the trouble. It wasn't often she entertained a guest who took such a genuine interest in her both as a kindred spirt and romantically.

"Nothing compared to some of the things I've done in the past," he commented airily, and she did a quick review of what she learned so far. "How old are you anyways," she curiously enquired, and he paused as though considering. "Not sure that's a question I can answer in terms you'd understand," he admitted after a few moments. "Oh yeah, try me," she challenged him with that damning smirk of hers in place. "Endless eternities," he finally told her, smirking once again as she quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Seriously?" she asked him, wondering if he meant that literally. "Seriously! And yes Di-di, I meant that literally. I've lived for an infinite number of eternities back to back; each eternity regarded as increments of time beyond all finite and transfinite numbers," he told her, his smirk disappearing and replaced with a neutral expression as Death gave a loud, appreciative whistle. "Damn… I gotta say, you look really good for your age," she laughed, winking at him teasingly and surprised when she made him blush for the first time.

"Thanks Di-di," he whispered, clearly pleased by the compliment while Death nodded, still smiling and unable to wrap her head around how old this Entity was. "For the record, I'm around 20 billion millennia myself; so, I'm not exactly one of the young fellas either," she admitted, and they both shared a laugh at that. Appaneesty was still blushing slightly when he took another swig of his hot cocoa, and Death found herself laughing harder when he came up for air with a whipped cream and molten marshmallow mustache on his face.

"What?" he questioned her, though she could tell he wasn't as oblivious to what she was laughing at as he would have her believe. "You've got something… right here," she purred seductively. She knew she would've kicked herself if she missed an opportunity like this as she reached across the coffee table separating them in her living room, brought her finger to above his mouth, drew a circular motion around the rim of his mouth and getting some of the molten marshmallows off his face, and sucked it off her finger in one fluid motion; her now clean fingertip exiting her mouth with a resounding _pop_. He seemed surprised by the highly suggestive and lewd action, but quickly recovered and grinned at her.

"So, um, what are your plans from here on out; where in the Omega Omnisphere do you wish to go first? I can take you anywhere you like, though I doubt there are too many places out there you can't access as well," he asked when his blush finally receded. "I honestly don't know where to start; I have so many options available to me right now and because of that I'm stuck," she admitted once the teasing was passed for the time being. He nodded understandingly. "I've actually been where you are many times, when I decided I wanted to stop ruling the Omega Omnisphere and just see them instead; I didn't know where I wanted to travel first. My only advice is to tell you that the best trips are the ones you don't plan; not knowing where you'll end up is part of the fun.

So, the whole of Totality and every alternate version of it as well; where do you want to start? Or, perhaps we should make our destination random and just set our teleportation powers to take wherever the cosmic wind blows," he suggested in response as she nodded eagerly at the second part. They both were finally satisfied with the amount of cocoa they had consumed, both of Death's goldfish had eaten their fill of fish food, and Death had everything she needed to travel abroad packed in a dimensionally expanded satchel.

She was ready to tackle anything out there in the Omega Omnisphere, and though she hadn't expected company or a companion when she first decided to set out; she was glad she met this person. Appaneesty Infinity was still much of a mystery to her, and she didn't know exactly how high up he was on the ON's or this Zenith Omnidonae Pantheon's established hierarchy; all she knew was that he had become a friend to her in the span of just a few hours and she had the odd premonition that he would become extremely important to her in the coming years. "Alright, come on my retired Totality Omniarch; show me the infinite possibilities of the Omniverse," she enticingly instructed him, taking his hand and feeling a pleasant warmth spread through her entire being at the contact as he transported them both away via Omega Omnisphere displacement. The interior space of Death's house was warped for the briefest of moments, and then returned to equilibrium a few seconds after they both vacated.


End file.
